MALAYSIA'S STABLE GOVERNMENT MAKING GOOD PROGRESS WITH SUPPORTIVE POLICIES -- AMIR HAMZAH

By Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 (Bernama) -- Malaysia’s stable government has made good progress with its supportive policies, allowing the country to take the necessary decisions to move on, Finance Minister II Datuk Seri Amir Hamzah Azizan said.

Speaking at a high-level roundtable on “Bringing Everything Together - Policy Challenges for Asia Going Forward” held in conjunction with the Asia in 2050 Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, today, the minister said policies should be designed to be supportive rather than merely put in place to manage issues along the way.

“Malaysia having three and a half years of stable government is allowing us to take the decisions necessary to move on. I think when you can create a confidence level that is necessary, things can progress.

“The second thing is actually looking at making sure that when you design policies, the policies are supportive,” he explained.

Amir Hamzah also highlighted that Malaysia has a vibrant financial market.

However, he opined that the breadth of the country’s financial market is still not at the desired level, as the evolving business landscape requires greater support for the informal sector, the gig economy and other segments.

“So the role of the government is actually to go and figure out how do we provide the mechanisms that allow this to prosper. Not to govern it, not to run it, but to allow and turbocharge that element,” he said.

The high-level event organised by the Bank of Thailand in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) brought together experts, policymakers, and industry leaders from across the region to foster knowledge exchange and innovative thinking around the region's future challenges and opportunities.

Besides Amir Hamzah, the panellists at the roundtable were International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas, and Central Bank of Sri Lanka governor P. Nandalal Weerasinghe.

-- BERNAMA